Chapter 5
Burning Bridges
Anton:
I've killed men with my bare hands, watched the light fade from their eyes without flinching. Made peace with the kind of darkness that would break most people.
But sitting in this car, listening to Fee's breathing, soft, trusting, alive, terror claws at my chest. Not the clean fear of a gun to my head. Something infinitely worse.
The fear of losing her.
Lorenzo's gates loom ahead, black iron twisted into symbols of power. Every instinct screams at me to turn around, to take Fee somewhere safe, somewhere I control. Instead,
I pull directly to the mansion's main entrance.
This isn't my territory. These aren't my rules. And I can't solve this with violence. Can't put a bullet in the problem and walk away. This requires something far more dangerous than killing.
Politics.
I pull directly to the mansion's main entrance. Carrying Fee against my chest, I approach the mansion. The massive doors open, revealing Moira with Lorenzo and Connor behind them.
"Fee!" Moira's hands flutter toward us. "What happened to your foot?"
"I just stepped on some broken glass."
Moira's expression shifts as she processes Fee's careful phrasing. Her green eyes narrow slightly, that Quinn intelligence picking apart what Fee isn't saying.
"Broken glass," she repeats slowly.
I enter the home and pause in the foyer, allowing the sisters their moment.
Fee sighs. "It was an attack at the boutique. But I'm here, Moira. I had protection."
Moira's hand flies to her mouth, the other instinctively cradling her belly. "Attack?"
Her gaze shifts to Lorenzo with laser precision. He remains impassive, but I catch the slight tightening around his eyes.
Connor clears his throat. "Perhaps we should get Fee settled first."
Smart man.
"I'm fine, please don't worry." Fee reaches out to squeeze Moira's hand, and I shift slightly to accommodate the gesture. "Look at you, though. You're glowing. Motherhood is powerful, Moira. You're carrying life, growing by the minute, and your petite frame is handling it like the powerhouse you are."
The deflection works partially. Moira's worried expression softens as she glances down at her rounded belly, but I can see she's filing away questions for later.
"The medical quarters are upstairs," Lorenzo says, his voice carefully neutral. "My personal physician will examine Fee."
We head toward the grand staircase. Moira's breathing becomes labored halfway up, so I slow my pace.
"The stairs are harder now," she admits, pausing on the landing. "Everything's harder."
"Except looking radiant," Fee says firmly. "That part you've mastered."
"You're required to say that because you're my sister." Moira manages a smile.
Her smile wavers as we reach the top. "The doctor thinks I might need a C-section. The baby's measuring too big."
Fee tenses in my arms. "A C-section?"
